Re: Graniteville to Alleghany via Plumbago Mine

David,
The road from Hwy 49 is paved all the way to Alleghany, but very little paved road once you leave Alleghany for Downieville. If you want to stay on pavement, you'd have to back track from Alleghany to Hwy 49, and then on to Downieville.
Rich

Re: Graniteville to Alleghany via Plumbago Mine

A few years ago did a dirt ride starting from Hwy 49 north of Nevada City around Camptonville CA all the way east to Reno NV. The old Henness Pass stage route. JoefromSF. I can't find the link to the old ride reports now.

Jim, a 1200GS would be fine on this route. Remember a left turn for the dirt route down into Downieville. Bit tougher going if memory serves. Anyway, the Henness dirt route is a long fun one for fellow DS'ers.

You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need - The Rolling Stones

Re: Graniteville to Alleghany via Plumbago Mine

Jim the climb out of German Bar/Plumbago into Alleghany is pretty rough. I had an F800GS and wouldn't want to wrestle it up that hill, can't even imagine trying that on a 1200.

If you're asking about the Alleghany to Downieville route I think you would be fine. As Motorrad mentioned the Henness Pass Rd is well used. Out of Alleghany the road out to Kanaka Creek has a short climb up to Lafeyette Rd, but nothing technical. Lafayette Ridge is a wide dirt road that shouldn't be a problem either. The road from Henness Pass to Downieville can get a little rough but just isolated spots. We're probably going to see if we can make it all the way through in the next few days, should have a better report on conditions for you.

Re: Graniteville to Alleghany via Plumbago Mine

So I sold the XR 600R plated (seen at the beginning of this thread) and picked up a 2007 DR650 (the blue one) so I could enjoy an e-start after I injured my right knee. Great Machine, I see they're dominating this thread. Perfectly suited for this terrain. Got back down to the Plumbago last weekend on this ride. Note RM250 inverted front forks.

Shown here is a Clamper monument of a stage coach robbery on Henness Pass located between the Mountain House rd. turnoff and Galloway. Kinda NeatHere's the new monument sez the same thing as the old one 'Rite Here'"The county spends a lot of money on targets"Kanaka creek crossing outside of Alleghany.

Re: Graniteville to Alleghany via Plumbago Mine

Really nice video of the ride, looks like visualizerent under a different screenname. Definitely want to explore around the Alleghany area this summer, I love finding old mining history, old bridges, etc.